Why health and diet matter

So very often do we focus on the physical, outward results of healthier eating and exercise.

The slim bodies, the washboard abs, the poppin’ biceps and chiseled chests that we see plastered on Instagram on the daily.

Seemingly everyone has their own advice about how to achieve that success. Determination. Willpower. Just EAT LESS, for goodness sake. Workout 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. Eat brown rice and boiled chicken and don’t touch cookies or you’ll derail all of your progress.

Ugh, no wonder people don’t want to jump on that wild ride.

It seems like everyone has the answer to prey on this perpetuated idea that health and successful health outcomes is supposed to look a certain way.

The truth is — and this is especially true for women — is that you can look like that and be wildly unhealthy. (The reason I point this out specifically for women is because women’s hormones require a higher amount of body fat to function normally. I’ll follow up more on this idea below.)

Healthy does not mean size 4. Health does not mean abs. Health does not mean impossibly thin. Health doesn’t require you to be a pro athlete. Health doesn’t require you to run marathons.

Health starts right here with your own body: What you put into it (food, nutrients), and what you demand from it (exercise, cardio, strength training).

Being overweight and obese are linked to a wide array of chronic and acute health problems, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic inflammation, cancer, increases susceptibility to illness, and an increased chance of death from a large variety of causes, etc.

Very rarely do people associate being thin with being unhealthy, but you can be just as unhealthy! Women with too low of a body fat percentage disrupt their hormones, leading to problems that include reduced bone density as they age. Here is a good source that details some more of the dangers.

So let’s quash that idea that health looks a certain way right here right now. Maybe it’s boring, but good health looks perfectly normal. People can argue semantics and details all day, but all that does is make you feel like you’ll never be good enough. Most of us aren’t pros or competitors, and those tiny nuances don’t matter much to us, so let’s just let that go. We’ve got enough stress in our lives, right?

Healthy eating, much like a healthy body, isn’t insane, either. Unless they make you seriously ill or you don’t like certain foods, you shouldn’t write off any foods as inherently unhealthy/fattening/bad/evil/goes-straight-to-my-butt … That’s not necessarily how it works.

While nutrition is incredibly complex and our individual bodies are even more complex, making the right food choices most of the time will lead to better health outcomes. You’ll feel better. You won’t feel over-full and bloated. Often your skin will look better. You’ll have more energy. And you will still most likely enjoy the food you’re putting into your body.

Healthier eating will lead to better health on its own. Certain foods, like alcohol, have been linked to an increased risk of several types of cancer. That’s one example of how a healthier diet will lead to a health outcome that concern many people (and it’s an especially big one for me). Walnuts and certain healthy fats can help preserve brain function and reduce cognitive decline as you age. So much for that anti-fat craze that is still lingering in some places.

I could really sit here all day and talk about the benefits of so, so many different kinds of foods, but I think you get the point. This is where it takes time, patience and curiosity as you learn about what you are currently eating that is unhealthy (something you want to improve) and what you are eating that is healthy (something you want to maintain), plus learning about where you can make better choices, where you don’t want to make compromises, and where you could maybe be a little more open minded (I promise kale is better with a little sprinkle of hot sauce)!

Healthy eating extends into performance benefits, too. Following up on or fueling a tough workout with healthy foods will lead to better outcomes. You cannot eat sugary doughnuts and pound Gatorade all day and expect good outcomes. If you want to improve, you need to improve your diet too.

Yes, some athletes do fuel with sugary drinks and foods. But these are often at extremely high intensity (races) or at long duration (endurance training/events). What your body needs and how your body handles different fuel sources during extreme events are not necessarily something most people will have to worry about. When you’re training for your first or fastest half marathon or century ride, then you should start worrying about it. But a good 30 minute or hour long cardio session should really be OK with some good, healthy fuel like a banana, maybe some low-calorie electrolyte drink, and some good-ol-fashioned water.

If you want to be healthy, feel healthy and look healthy, then you must eat healthy.

Always remember this: GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT.